sarah bright man has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, has a long stage career including starring in "phantom of the opera kw-bg kw-bg and also "time to say goodbye" coverage starts tonight with megyn kelly and bill hemmer live in time square. you too could be part ever the show. send us your happy new year's message. it will appear on our ticker live at the bottom of the screen. send it to you text plus next your greeting, send it to 36288, then tune in and watch your message live tonight. gregg: big plans? heather: i will be in bed. i'll be here at 5:00am in the morning. gregg: i'm going to mix-up a geritol and metamucil

cocktail -- heather: you'll be right in the middle of time square and you know it. gregg: "happening now" starts right now. jon: the clock is ticking. hours to go before we go over the fiscal cliff. a top lawmaker reporting progress in the last-ditch efforts to hammer out a deal in time. a health crisis lands secretary of state hillary clinton in the hospital, what doctors are telling us about her condition. plus, iran test firing a new range of weapons right near the strait of hormuz where a chunk of oil passes each day. the impact on the middle east and on our world, it's all "happening now." >> reporter: there is a note of optimism in the race to avoid the fiscal cliff. hello, everybody, i'm uma pemmaraju in for jenna lee today. jon: good to have you here.

optimism is always a good thing in washington. that is in short supply. ringing in 2013 at midnight tonight could mean ringing in more than half a trillion dollars in tax hikes and a hundred billion dollars worth of spending cuts from defense and other key domestic programs, that is if no deal is reached in time to avert it. both the house and senate with rare new year's eve sessions today as they try to hammer out some sort of an agreement. >> we do have to work together, because without bi-partisanship nothing is going anywhere. what we can do is avoid a fiscal calamity by not having the sequestration take place on january 1. jon: the white house also burning the midnight oil last night with the president saying earlier that he ways modestly optimistic the two side could strike a deal. but the key sticking points remain the same, taxing the

wealthy and cutting the budget to pay for democratic spending proceed proceeds always. >> it feels an awful lot like groundhog day. this is the fourth or fifth time i've stood at this podium and i feel like i'm saying the same thing, except in the movie time re matter. every indication now is the republican congress continues to not work in good faith with the president. there is still time left and it's our hope that they will come to hair senses and do the right thing for the american people. jon: our chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill where it probably feels like groundhog day to him too. what haw hearing, any progress on the fiscal cliff thing? >> we are all watching and waiting to hear as the senate goes back into session any moment now. everybody i've talked to in recent hours says there are signs of progress, there's optimism, but as one key republican senator told me a few minutes ago, it will come down to those pesky details.

vice president joe biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell the republican leader have been the key figures in these negotiations after talks stalled over the weekend between mcconnell and senate majority leader harry reid. mcconnell says he and the vice president spoke last night at 12:45, again at 6:30 this morning. mcconnell explained why he reached out to his former senate colleague mr. biden. >> i also placed a call to the vice president to see if he could help jump start the negotiations on his side. the vice president and i have worked together on solutions before, and i believe we can again. >> obviously we were watching to see what the senate does at this hour, what is said at this point i'm hearing it sound like 2:00 eastern time may be another critical time, when they may run by their members, the republicans and the democrats, the latest on those talks, and if there is a deal the details of the deal, jon.

jon: we just had senate majority leader read making some remarks from the microphone, perhaps i'll get to word from the control room in just a bit as to what he had to say. he's already peeled off the microphone, i guess he's done, mike, making his opening remarks. so what about the house side? is that where the ball lies right now? or just exactly what is the state of play here? >> reporter: they essentially said late last week, you know what let the senate go first, let the senate take action. they felt like they have passed numerous bills over the course of the year that would have addressed some of the fiscal cliff problems. they said let senate majority leader harry reid take over. there is definitely frustration in the house that it's come to this point this late in 2012 as we are heading over the fiscal cliff potentially. bottom line some some suggested there is not a tax problem in the united states, there is a major spending problem. >> history has a way of repeating itself.

somehow washington never gets the message, and here we are 30 years later on the brink of another crisis on new year's eve, still addicted to spending money. >> madame speaker the american people are looking at congress with distain and rightfully so. with the deadline on the fiscal cliff only hours away we've failed to reach a reasonable compromise to move the economy forward and ward off painful tax hikes on the middle class. >> reporter: so everybody is waiting to see if the senate can reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. it's not entirely clear when the house would act. i talked to a key leadership aide who he said if the senate passes a deal we could certainly signal that we will take it up perhaps tomorrow morning and that would keep everybody calm, but first things first, they need a deal, jon. jon: by my calculation they have less than 13 hours to accomplish that. mike emanuel, thank you. >> reporter: thank you, sir. jon: let's take a look at the dow with all this fiscal cliff nonsense going on. it's up, actually about 8 points

right there as you can see. still down below 13,000, though, after heavy losses last week. very light trading also as you might imagine on this day before the market is closed for the new year's holiday. while congress cannot seem to agree on a fiscal cliff fix, it looks like a deal has been reached to keep your milk prices from skyrocketing. both the house and senate agriculture committees have agreed to a one year extension on the farm bill which expired earlier this year. the extension must be passed by a full vote in congress before it can take effect. had a deal not been reached by tonight the government would have been forced to buy milk at inflated prices, raising the doss of milk and other dairy products for consumers could have been 8 bucks a gallon, believe it or not. heather: secretary of state hillary clinton is now hospitalized after doctors discovered a blood clot during a recent follow-up exam stemming from a concussion earlier this month. david lee miller is joining us

live from our new york city newsroom with the very latest on her condition. >> reporter: officials have not released specific details about secretary clinton's glad clot. medical experts say the severe a steve the problem depends on the location of the clot. most risky are the rain. she is being treated by anti-could he ago ooh atlantas and will remain at new york's presbyterian hospital until tuesday to monitor her medication. this is not the first time that mrs. clinton had been treated for a blood clot she had one in the back of her right leg in 1988, she described it as the most serious medical condition she ever experienced. after a stomach virus she fainted and hit her head. it is possible the newly discovered clot had form before she was diagnosed with a discussion. it also could have resulted from bed rest. >> the blood clot i'm assuming is similar to the one she had in

1988 which was in the back of her leg. she did have a concussion recently, which probably made her a little immobile at home, which is a bit of a risk factor for developing clots in veins in legs, especially in people who are at risk for them h-frpblgts since suffering the concussion secretary clinton has not made any public appearance and canceled overseas trips as well as congressional testimony on the attack at the u.s. consulate in bengazi. experts say the clot could require her to lessen her workload in the final weeks as soak of state. whatever the course of her treatment she will usher in the new year at a new york hospital. >> reporter: thank for the update. jon: boring to do that in a hospital. hours away from the end of 2012. more than a million people are going to be packing new york's time scare tonight for the biggest party in the world. secretary clinton will not be among them, as we've just been told. meteorologist maria molina is back in the fox extreme weather

center whether it's a little warmer than her post earlier this morning. maria what can we expect tonight. >> reporter: good to see you. it's much warmer in here. usually i think it's chilly in the weather center. it's better than over 20 stories above a building in new york city where temperatures are only in the 30s, you factor in the wind out there and it feels likely 20's. that's what we are looking at across new york city. dry weather along the east coast. where we won't have dry weather is across portions of the plains. we have temperatures cold enough out here where some of the precipitation is coming down in the form of snow. we even had reports of freezing rain on going across eastern portions of kentucky earlier today. please be safe out here with any possible icing on any roadways. we do have also a number of winter weather advisories due to that snowfall expected to accumulate across portions of missouri, into kansas and as much as five inches of snow can fallout there. otherwise across texas and oklahoma and also pushing into portions of arkansas we are just dealing with areas of rainfall.

unfortunately the storm will still be producing precipitation coming up as we head into midnight tonight for new year's eve. if you live in tennessee, northern parts of alabama, mississippi, even down into louisiana you could be looking at some rainfall coming up here at midnight, otherwise on the northern side of the storm guess where we're getting more snow, ohio, indiana, places have been hit by snow storms in the past -- basically two storms already in the past couple of days, which is more snow for you guys. as we head into portions of louisiana, further on into their time zone as we head into mid tight dealing with an area of rainfall. current temperatures right now. 32 in new york city. pourings of the midwest cold as well. in the teens. minneapolis and also rapid city. as far as the wind again very tkheul lee out here, 32 in new york city is what it feels like, 17 boston, and in portions of upstate new york it feels like the low 20s. new york city the exact forecast coming in as we head into midnight tonight is we do think the temperature will be reading at about 30 degrees or so.

it could feel a little cooler than that. anyone headed out to time square you've got to bundle up, and jon as we head into new yore's day to kickoff 2013 we could see a couple of snow showers but no big deal and the high temperature should be a nice toasty 35 degrees. jon: 35. okay. you're going to see those people out there tonight with no shirts on, the guys. >> reporter: they are already out there. they've been out there since 9:00 this morning lining up. jon: i don't get it i really don't. but each to his own, this is america it's a great country. maria mow lean a thank you, happen here new year. >> reporter: getting ready for one big party out there. definitely. finally the countdown to the new year is the count town to the fiscal cliff from capitol hill to the whoufplts you can see senator harkin there on the floor of the house area, efforts to hammer out a deal before its too late. what is really at stake. sevens are on the floor as you can see talking about the negotiations. we'll go in tk*ebgt. a bombshell report on the benghazi terror attack why a

bipartisan investigation spreads the blame saying it reaches all the way to the white house. we are live with that story. oh!

progress-oh! -oh! -oh! oh! oh! ♪ wh do you know? oh! ♪ bacon? -oh! -oh! oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your story for a chance to win a progress-oh! makeover in hollywood. go to facebook.com/progresso to enter.

-p. jon: some international headlines we are following at this hour. officials in afghanistan now saying the next phase of a security transfer from nato to afghan control will begin in two months. the transition which began in early 2011 is slated to give afghan forces full control by the end of the 2014 withdrawal deadline. after being discharged from a hospital last week south africa's former leader nelson mandela is receiving medical care at his home. the 94-year-old was treated for a lung infection and the removal of gall stones. his family says he is alert and in very good spirits.

meantime venezuela's president hugo kha shreds is reportedly suffering new complications stemming from his latest health battle. the 58-year-old has been diagnosed with cancer and recently underwent his fourth surgery. our own steve harrigan will have new information on this in a live report next hour. >> reporter: all right. right now word of progress on capitol hill in the last minute talks to avoid the fiscal cliff. barbara boxer is talking right there on the senate floor of the house and senate both in rare new year's eve sessions today ahead of the deadline that triggers across the board tax hikes with dramatic cuts in military and domestic spending. joining us now bob cusack the manage evening editor of the hill the. great to have you here today. >> great to be here. >> many americans are frustrated that congress has taken us to the brink once again with little or no progress.

what are you hearing at this moment? is there progress at this time? >> well, we are hearing that there has been progress between vice president biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. still we are nearly 12 hours from the cliff. we don't have a bill. there has actually been a stunning lack of urgency on cant toll hill. on the default showdown, the government shut down there was more urgency. here there just isn't that urgency, maybe because the markets haven't been the roller coaster we thought they would be. eventually people will see less money in their paychecks unless a deal is reached and that could cause some kind of panic that could move congress. so far congress has just not moved and neither has the president. they haven't been able to get a deal. >> reporter: we keep hearing that this is not just a tax problem, raising revenues, this is also a big spending problem. and those issues are just not being addressed. >> yeah, and whatever deal they reach, this debt problem is not going to be going away.

tax reform, entitlement reform will probably have to be done in 2013. the big thing here is this because supposed to be a down payment on deficit reduction, and when you think about the things that could be in this bill, whether it's increasing rates for doctors in medicare, as well as possibly delaying the defense sequester, this bill could actually cost money and increase the deficit especially when you're talking about the tax rates. because remember cbo assumes that the tax rates are actually going to go back to clinton rates. so that is going to be a cost there. and that will be a problem in the house if this score comes back as blowing a hole in the deficit that will be a problem getting the votes even if they get a tkaoefrpblgts you're no deal. >> reporter: you're not confident at all that the money they get will be used to pay don't debt. >> i think some of it will. when you think about all the things that could be in this bill there are some pricey price tags here that are going to

increase this bill and basically that is going to be a problem when house conservatives hear that this is actually going to increase the deficit. there will also be a problem for the credit rating agencies who have warned congress they may downgrade the nation once again, that is going to be the problem here. that is the delicate thing that mitch mcconnell and joe biden have to do. they have to get a deal. we are talking smaller and smaller deal and that is going to be a problem, because this may not actually reduce spending. >> reporter: really quickly, though, people wonder why the negotiations have now shifted to the vice president and mitch ma tkopbl when fo mcconnell when for a longtime we were hearing it rested in boehner's hands. >> first it was boehner and obama, they failed to get a grand bargain. john boehner was unable to pass his plan b debt reduction bill and they decided to go in another way. boehner said let's see what the senate can do. we saw senator reid and mitch

mcconnell try to get a deal, that failed. now mcconnell and biden who have a very good relationship. they worked on extending the tax breaks in 2010 they are trying it. the clock is ticking. the public is going to have to read this bill and members will demand that they read this bill before they vote on it and that's why we will go over the fiscal cliff. >> great to have you here today. i know the clock is ticking. i know you're watching it closely. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. gregg. jon: a new report on the terror attack on our consulate in libya. who they are blaming for the deaths of four americans including our ambassador. a french court says goodbye to that country's controversial 75% tax rate on the wealthy. don't you wish you were living in france? what that means for the socialist government of that country as it vows to continue squeezing the rich. new prilosec otc wildberry

is the same frequent heartburn treatment as plosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer one pill each morning. satisfaion guaranteed or your money back.

jon: a brand-new report on the benghazi terror attack on the bipartisan congressional investigation is not only critical of the state department for failing to recognize and respond to security risks before four americans, including our ambassador to libya were killed. the report also finds fault with the pentagon and the white house. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge live with that from washington. is this report different from the one that the state department investigation group put out, catherine? >> reporter: it is, jon. thank you and good morning. this congressional investigation also faults the pentagon for having no effective evacuation plan and faults the white house including president obama for his inconsistent statements about whether benghazi was a terrorist attack given the intelligence suggested within hours that an al-qaida affiliate was involved on september 11th. it sites mr. obama a's interview

with 60 minutes on september 12th as evidence of inconsistent statements. he states it's too early to know exactly how this came about, what group was involved. obviously it was an attack on americans and we will be working with the libyan government to make sure we bring these folks to justice one way or the other. the president said in an interview over the weekend that there were quote, huge problems and sloppiness connected to benghazi and this his administration is accepting the 29 recommendations of the state department review, jon. jon: what are we learning about the warnings that were given here? >> reporter: this is probably the critical piece. the report found more than a dozen security-related incidents leading up to the attack with a senior state department official telling senate investigators that in the summer of 2012 the threat was so significant the system was blinking red. >> you have dozens of of intelligence reports and acts of violence in benghazi which make

it very clear that this is becoming one of the most dangerous places american diplomats and government personnel could be, probably outside a war zone like afghanistan. >> reporter: senators lieberman and collins write that despite repeated requests their investigators have not been given a detailed timeline on the cia talking points, specifically how the talking points were massaged and watered down with terms like al-qaida dropped, quote. according to a senior intelligence official the timeline has not been delivered as promised was the administration has spent weeks debating internally whether or not it should turn over information considered deliberative to congress. the military commander in charge ever the region had no idea of the depth and breath of the situation and he may need to evacuate two dozen americans on very short notice, and that is what happened on september 11th jon. jon: there are questions being

asked that are not being answered apparently. >> reporter: i think it is highly significant that the timeline about the cia talking points has not been delivered to the senate committee and they issued the report citing the administration's reluctance to do so. jon: interesting. thank you. uma: shifting gears, rapper kanye west spilling the beans announcing that him and his girlfriend kim kardashian are expecting a baby. he made the announcement at a concert last night at an atlantic city casino. the pregnancy not khroeg down the couple's new year's plans. kim card requires set to appear tonight at a vegas nightclub where she will be paid six figures for just showing up and part tieing. great that, it's a great country. >> i thought she was married to that basketball player. >> no, no, no that is over a longtime ago. jon: really. uma: this is the current fling. [laughter] jon: good luck, kanye with that. the deadline to come up with a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff just hours away.

what does it mean when lawmakers are already starting to point the finger of blame even before an agreement is reached? our panel weighs in on that. plus counting down to america's new year's celebration, coming up we'll go live to check out final preps underway for the annual rose parade in sunny southern california. ooh, doesn't that look nice. >> uh-huh. .so as you can see, gs customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please?

uma: welcome back, everybody.

right now parts of the world are already ringing in 2013. new zealand kicking the party off early this morning, firing off giant fireworks from the top of the nation's tallest tour in auckland. they are one of the first to greet each new year because of its proximity to the international dateline. quite a show there. jon: take a look at this. the party underway in reclusive north korea. history in the making here. complete with official national fireworks in the capital city of pongyang. this is the first public new year's celebration in north korea in a very long time. uma: and final preparations are under way for tonight's big party in new york city. crews testing the giant crystal ball that will drop over times square. this year's ball covered in more than 2600 waterford crystals that can change colors. meantime crews are hard at work getting ready for one of the country's most famous

new year's day tradition the beautiful tournament of roses parade held in california. bob decrass toe from kttv in los angeles joins us from nearby irwindale where the floats are coming together. >> reporter: uma, happy new year, to you. it is very noisy here. a lot of activity here about a hour and a half from now it is judging time. the floats for the most part are completely finished. this is the dole float. it is always a crowd favorite. it has been the big sweepstakes trophy two years in a row. when it is all done, flowers will come out of the fountain and a volcano shooting and spitting fire. all the activity when the judging takes place all the dancers have to be out and about doing their thing. take a look at this float here. this is the kaiser permanente float. the places they go. stuck with the theme of the 24th an all tournament of

roses parade. this is cabbage and green apples you will not see when looking at tv from far away. certainly you see all the color and texture. about 45,000 flowers put on this float. really quickly, i want to turn around here, take a look at the natural balance float. this is always a big crowd favorite. they use surfing dogs or roller skating dogs. this year they give a nod to the military working dogs. there will be a monument in 2013 at lackland air force base in texas a nod to the working dogs. we'll give you a look at luca here. he will be honored on the float. corporal juan rodriguez is the handler. he was insured -- injured this year looking for ied, right? >> she was injured looking for ied. located one and secondary one went off. >> reporter: she will be on the float here.

she lost her leg. many parade floats are lining colorado boulevard. about a million people expected to line the route. temperatures here in l.a., somewhat sunny, about 50 to 60 degrees, dipping down to the 30s overnight. people are huddled up on the pa road route. uma: those floats are absolutely spectacular. we'll look forward to seeing the big parade on new year's day. thank you very much. ♪ . uma: well you might remember that song, one of pat bolland enatar's big hits, we belong. you belong here as we ring in the new year. megyn kelly and bill hemmer will host the all america's new year's eve on fox news. this includes four-time grammy winner pat benatar

who you just heard. you can be part of the show. send us your happy new year's eve messages. it will appear on the ticker crawl at the bottom of the screen live during the show. text u text, then a space, then your greeting to 36288. then tune in to watch your message on television. for more on the all american new year's avenue eve special and a look at top stories of 2012, go to foxnews.com/aanye. jon: the deadline is hours away now. if some kind of deal isn't hammered out by midnight tonight, tax hikes that would impact every american and plus spending cuts would kick in. the blame game already in full swing on both sides of the aisle. >> this is exactly the wrong time for us to go over this cliff. >> our membership is frustrated as the american people we're sworn to serve

because we understand and continue to be befuddled why we can't bring up proposals that put the country back to work. why we can't deal with the tax cut for the middle class. >> we've done our work and we're still waiting for the president president and theory reid to engage on this issue. >> i'm concerned about the lack of urgency here. i think we all know we're running out of time. this is far too much at stake for political gamesmanship. we need to protect the american families and businesses from this looming tax hike. jon: joining us now to talk about all this, alexis mcgill johnson, executive director of american values institute, and ron bonjean a guy who knows how things get handled in the house of representatives. he was former communications director to house speaker hastert. the house, ron, is saying look we sent spending bills over to the senate and they

have languished. so it is their turn. is that a workable strategy? i mean are americans going to say okay, the house has done its job? >> well, here, if we don't get a deal, even a small deal i think that americans will blame washington in general. you know the president tried to blame republicans in over the weekend, you know, on a sunday talk show and i don't think that's the way voters see it. i think they will say, you know what? democrats, republicans you're not getting anything done. we elected, we reelected president obama because he wanted him to go on a path forward but it's not happening. you, and i think if the markets crash, it will scare a lot of people and i think and taxes will go up. i think they will point at both sides. a big problem for both parties. jon: alexis, harry truman had the famous buck stops here sign on his desk. should president obama get that out of the smithsonian or wherever it resides and

take responsibility himself? >> i think the president has been showing a lot of leadership around this. i think that with the american people are going to do, if they are going to look at this in a much larger context. since the president has been in office the house republicans in particular, have been trying to hang the economy and budget deficit and around the president's neck. instead of trying to lead and figure out how to grow the economy and build a better opportunity for all americans. and so i think it is not just about the buck stopping with the president. i think president is doing all he can to really push, push the senate and the house republicans, you know, in the right direction but i think the really the buck for the american voter is going to stop with the house republicans and john boehner and eric cantor in particular. jon: that's what we're talking about. let me play for you what senator tom harkin said just a bit ago. we opened the senate session this hour with senate majority leader harry reid who basically said we're still talking but no progress or no real progress to report. didn't say much very frankly.

then senator harkin took the microphone. here is what he had to say. >> if we're going to have a deal, the deal has to favor the middle class, the real middle class, those making 30, 50, 60, $70,000 a year. that is the real middle class in america. and as i see this thing developing, quite frankly, as i have said before, no deal is better than a bad deal. this looks like a very bad deal the way this is shaping up. jon: ron, what about that plan b bill that the house passed or you know, what was considering, that would have raised taxes on those making a million dollars and up? >> well that is what is confusing me is that we want, republicans want to save taxpayers as many taxpayers as possible. we want to save them as at the same time we're looking for entitlement cuts. we're looking for spending cuts to make sure, you know, we can pay for increasing the debt. and you know, that's why we're having to focus on a small deal. i think there is realistic

small deal we'll get that will prevent taxes going up for those making $450,000 or less. democrats want to 50 or less. what we're trying to do is save more people money who have small businesses that employ people. you know what? next year when we deal with the sequester, which we haven't yet in the deal which we're unlikely to, and we have the debt limit increase which we have to deal with, republicans will have more leverage to demand spending cuts and entitlement reform. right now we're focused on saving taxpayers money. jon: alexis, you mentioned in your view it is speaker boehner and republicans in congress who get the blame but as one of those republicans said this morning on fox news channel. he was elected to reduce spending in washington and there are hundreds of republicans who feel the same way. why should they be forced to go with the spending package that the president wants just because he is the president. >> well, because the president was reelected. jon: they all were. that is my point. >> i understand that. but i think that the

president's larger message around increasing taxes on wealthy americans, to help us deal with some of our debt challenges is really the central theme that went through this entire election cycle. and so, the republicans house, in particular, has been focused trying to protect, trying to prevent taxes from increasing and trying to protect essentially 2% of the americans. 2% of the americans and having their taxes go up. when really it is, as senator harkin said, it is really about those people, those teachers, those firefighters, those people actually supporting the american economy in very real ways. until we can come to a deal that doesn't include, the kinds of cuts to spending that would affect their livelihood. that is not what we're talking in the spending conversation. these entitlement cuts would have a meaningful impact on their lives. it doesn't seem like the right way forward. jon: as you know, the increase on the top 2% really isn't going to reduce

the deficit. it seems to be the spending problem they will have to attack. that is discussion for another day. alexis mcgill johnson. ron bonjean. thank you both. >> thanks so much. uma: well, if going off the fiscal cliff sound dangerous check out the action as this year's car jumping championship in west sussex, england. this is an wall competition where the goal is to try to jump over as many cars as possible. each jump is judged on height, applause from the crowd and distance. in the end it was 31-year-old john harbor took home the crown after clearing a total of nine cars. unbelievable. wow. jon: i think you have to get an old beatle with an engine in the rear. i'm just, what it looks like from me. i would do that. uma: i know you would. jon: i would try it. if car jumping isn't extreme enough for you how about a dip in the a frozen river?

part of annual tradition in north even china. hundreds of people gather to honor the country's national swimming day and. they don't have a problem with the cold water but the air temperature, 18 below zero. that could be a little nippy. uma: indeed a refreshing little dip there. jon: that i would not do. uma: that you would not do. jon: not in 18 below. uma: no way. defiant new move out of the iran, test firing missiles near one of the most important passageway for the world's oil supply. what this could mean next. plus a shell oil drill ship stranded at sea. how it happened and what the coast guard is doing to get it safely back to port.

uma: we are following some disturbing developments out of iran. the country's navy is reportedly test firing a range of weapons including torpedoes and missiles near the strategic strait of hormuz, a vital passageway for 1/5 of the world's oil supplies. joining us to the discuss the possible ramifications, aaron david miller, a former advisor to six secretaries of state and vice president of the woodrow wilson center. great to have you here today. >> great to be here, uma. uma: how concerned are you by the recent actions of by iran regarding this test firing going on by the straits of hormuz? >> happy new year, and by the way this is really the mullahs way of extending a

happy new year to the administration as well. these are aer is series of six-day integrated exercises to demonstrate and show that the iranians can take care of their own business and defend their coastline and if necessary, if necessary, put up an offensive deterrent capacity in the event they're struck by the united states and israel. i think, uma, this is part of a game that the iranians, that the americans and israelis, dangerous as it may be have been playing for the last several years. it is kind of a cold war, if you will, which includes cyber attacks, sanctions, development of iran's nuclear capacity, all of this, frankly, is better than the phase that suspect we could move into next year which is, the real prospects of a hot war. i think iranians are open to a deal, whether or not they're prepared to deliver on their end, is really the key question i think for

2013. uma: well, recently iranian leaders have been saying that they believe the future lies with their air and sea capacity and their arsenal of weapons in that arena and that they want to show the world that they can be independent, that they have what it takes to launch an offensive. >> well i think what they really want to do is to demonstrate that they have a capacity and there will be a price to be paid in the event that there is a military strike by israel or the united states but the reality is that regardless of sophistication of these weapons, including the surface-to-air missile system the united states has the capacity to destroy iran's conventional and probably, set back its unconventional nuclear program for years should it come to that. so i think, i think iran needs to demonstrate its power to its own people and to show the west that there will be a cost but i don't

think the iranians have any illusion that in a major confrontation with the united states, they would come out of this anything other than a huge loser. uma: well the stakes remain quite high in this regard. certainly something we'll watch very closely. thank you so much for joining us with your insights today. >> always a pleasure. uma: thank you. jon: from oil troubles in the middle east to oil production troubles in alaska. a shell oil drill rig in trouble in the gulf of alaska. that now unmanned rig became stranded in a fierce storm. it was being towed back to port when the cable snapped. all 18 workers on board have been evacuated. overnight the coast guard and shell workers managed to reconnect two tow cables with very rough seas. they're hoping to tow it back safely to port. but in alaska in this weather nothing is easy. we'll keep an eye on it. uma: secretary hillary clinton is hospitalized over

the weekend being treated for a blood clot. we'll talk to a expert about how serious her condition could be [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs - each of your bodies. our sleep professionals will help you find your sleep number setting. exclusively at a sleep number store. comfort individualized. save 50% on the final closeout of our silver limited edition bed plus special financing through new years day.

jon: some new questions this morning about secretary of state hillary clinton's medical condition. over the weekend mrs. clinton was hospitalized with a blood clot. now this is video of the day that she reportedly contract ad stomach virus while on an overseas visit which doctors say may have caused her to faint later that week and fall at home in the process she suffered a concussion. now she has got this blood clot. are they related? and how serious might her condition be? we know she is in the hospital right now. dr. steven garner, chairman of radiology at new york mest difficult hospital and an expert on this kind of thing. they haven't said where the clot is and the location in the body is very important.

>> clots can be in the heart, lungs anywhere in the body. things they're telling us how long they will treated and way it presented leads you more toward the leg. assuming it is the leg we shouldn't be surprised she would have a clot. she has all the things going for her would be a clot. for example, her plane rides. very low humidity on the plane. the blood the gets very dry and begins to clot and form the clot that we're talking about. she is over 60. she had a clot in the past. people that have had clots in the past are more prone to have clots in the future. others are cigarette smoking i don't believe she is, people with cancer. a number of conditions can cause it. jon: a blood clot in the brain is obviously a very, very critical thing. they have not said where it is and the indications are she will be released tomorrow. so you're thinking it i probably in the leg? >> if it is in the leg treat

it with one type of chemical called heparin. that heparin has about be given by injection and coumadin has to be by mouth and she has to go home couple days as the heparin takes effect and coumadin takes effect you can go home. jon: you have a picture. >> black meese blood. the white in the center part is the clot. this is a clot in somebody's leg where we suspect mrs. clinton's is. what happens the medicine will never make the clot go away. the clot may stay there forever but will prevent new clots from forming and it will prevent this one from getting bigger. jon: i'm curious, those of us, how much of a problem are blood clots? are there people walking around who have them don't even know it? how do you know. >> 30% don't even know they have them. what most people feel is little charleyhorse. i have a pain in the back of my calf, back of my thigh. their leg turns red and swells up. it swells up because the

clot is blocking the blood going back to the heart. jon: what are the symptoms? >> pain. basically pain. redness in the leg. you may get a little fever. usually trace back something. this could have been with her for months. this may not have happened overnight. this could be from previous plane trip since we know she travel ad lot. it could have been something that didn't come very quickly. this syndrome, people have had this, develop in large leg and pain. jon: this is a deep vain thrombosis they warn you about on the airline flight cards? >> if you're on the plain, you ask your doctor, should i take an aspirin while i'm on the plane. drink as much as you can. it is dry on a plane. you know it is dry, jon, you fly. the dryness on the plane. jon: dehydrated. >> dehydrated. jon: dr. garner, good information there we wish secretary clinton well. uma? uma: we have brand new developments in the deadly ambush of firefighters on christmas eve. while the gunman killed

himself, police just made an arrest in connection with that shooting rampage, who is in trouble and why? and also how the stock market is reacting to all the uncertainty about the fiscal cliff mess. as we are now just hours away from the big deadline. what it means for your bottom line next this was the hole my waist was on. but since i've been on alli, am i on this one? nope. am i on this one? no, no, no, no, no. i am on this one. [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocng some of the fat you eat.

belt-friendly. let's fight fat with alli. learn more, lose more at letsfightfat.com.

jon: coming up on a brand new hour of "happening now", it is high noon on the east coast and this is it. 12 hours away now from falling off that fiscal cliff. it would mean tax hikes for nearly every american. why we are now hearing we could be closer to reaching a deal. they don't have much time. we are live in washington. plus disturbing new information on those violent mexican drug cartels. we'll tell you why these cartels are strengthening their grip on the u.s.. >>. >> welcoming the new year from the crossroads of the world. times square where the ball will drop tonight. we'll take you there live for all the preparations. jon: welcome to "happening

now" on this last day of 2012. uma: new year's eve, a big, big day. jon: i'm jon scott. uma: i'm uma pemmaraju in for jenna lee. we could see more than one big ball drop tonight. our fragile economy could take a huge hit in lawmakers fail to reach a deal to avoid massive tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in at the stroke of midnight. wendell goler is joining us live from the white house. wendell, great to see you. what is the very latest on these negotiations? >> reporter: well the vice president and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell talked late into the night yesterday and picked up before breakfast today and word is they made some progress. the two basically took leadership of the talks when president obama and house speaker john boehner failed to cut a deal. when. mcconnell essentially gave up trying to negotiate with senate majority leader harry reid. now said to be reasonably close together on income tax rates though republicans want to use the additional money to cut the deficit and democrats to soften spending cuts. california senator barbara

boxer made clear this morning she is not looking for perfection. >> i wanted to add at least a cautiously optimistic note i am hopeful we will get something done and i think if we do, and if it's fair, fair enough, we should get our country off this cliff. >> reporter: boxer says she is willing to move up the income protected from tax hikes but her bottom line is extending unemployment benefits. she says that is good for the economy and fair for the many people who still can't find work. uma? uma: wendell, is it true that some family's taxes will rise whether or not there's a deal. >>reporter: it looks like the only real question is where that income level is. the cuttoff. vice president biden, mcconnell, said to be about $100,000 apart with biden willing to preserve tax cuts for families making up $450,000 and mack connell wanting to go to 550,000.

south dakota senator john thune is too on miss tick but his focus is different than senator bocker's. >> i certainly hope the negotiations occurring right now can conclude in a way that will give us an outcome that prevents those tax rates from increasing on americans across this country and also put in place some things that would actually deal with the real problem, and the real problem, mr. president, is that our country spends too much. >> reporter: democratic senator tom harkin of iowa says republicans are trying to lock if had income and estate tax rates and some permanent spending cuts in exchange for temporary hikes in unemployment insurance and other things. and he objects to that. still aways to go, uma. uma: still aways to go indeed. wendell goler on the front lines right at the white house keeping tab on all the happenings from that vantage point. thanks so much for joining us. jon: let's bring in joe trippi to the discussion

now. he of course is former campaign manager for howard dean's presidential run. he is a fox news contributor and knows well how things work in washington. so you've got mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, doing a deal or trying to do a deal with joe biden, the vice president, and i guess they served together for nearly a quarter of a century in the u.s. senate. what are the chances do you think? >> i, jon, look, they are, they have worked together for many years. i think 23 years they built up their relationship, so i think that they're really good chance that is the two of them coming to agreement but then there are other roadblocks. at some point it has to go over to the house and there is still a question whether speaker boehner will let that vote occur. i think he will. and then on top of that, if there are other provisions missing, will the president agree to sign it? so very many steps here that have to take place but i think that both vice president biden and

mcconnell's relationship may bring, put enough of a deal together to get something very small done. it, this will not be a big, a big deal. it is going to be very tiny just to get us from going over the cliff i think. jon: from what we understand, senator mcconnell and vice president biden are talking about a deal would allow tax increase on couples making more than 450,000 a year and individuals making more than 400,000. now, speaker boehner's plan b, his number was apparently at a million dollars and he couldn't get support of that among his house caucus. >> that is the problem here but again, what boehner was trying to do is get the majority house, the gop majority, pass it with just gop votes and that wasn't possible. so he didn't even bring it to the floor. what would happen under this scenario would be the democrats would have to all vote for this and there would have to be 30, 40, 50

votes on the republican side. everybody else could vote against it on the republican side on the house but 40 or so votes have to be there for a yes. the problem is boehner has not been willing to bring a vote to the floor without a majority of the gop supporting it in the house. that's known as the hastert rule. you don't bring a vote to the floor unless, majority party is going to pass it. but if he was that in, let's it come to the floor i think the democrats, if mcconnell and biden can come to an agreement i think the democrats will be there. the question will be, will boehner let it go through? if he does are there enough votes in the house on the republican side to pass it. jon: senator rand paul is speaking about it now. i'm sure he has a few interesting things to say. we'll keep an ear on that. let you know what he says. joe trippi, good to have you on. >> thanks, jon. happy new year. jon: happy new year to you. let's hope we can get a deal done. uma: president obama facing another key test ahead of

his second term over another union battle as a major strike deadline approaches. the next fight concerns our nation's ports. doug mckelway joins us live from washington with details. and, doug, the complaints of the longshoremen whose strike was temporarily averted last week is a symbol what is threatening unions across the u.s., right? >> reporter: it sure is, uma. the longshoremen reached a temporary, 30-day deal last week, last friday which puts off immediate threat of a strike but the long term problems remain. today, for example, it takes one longshoremen to do a job that a generation ago took three men to do. as automation increased longshoremen's union demanded their job security preserved but the industry finds it prohibitively expensive. >> an tick waited rules. we've seen it in the automotive industry, the steel industry, in several productivity machines and they come into play and

people get displaced by. that it is a difficult thing. in order to maintain the cost and competitiveness in a global marketplace we have got to pay attention to. >> reporter: in some respects president obama is caught in a web of his own making. he wants to be competitive in the global marketplace but he also wants to, and i should say he owes his victory at least in part to unions and by extension to some of the antiquated work rules they support. >> you only have to look to michigan where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry to see how unions have helped build, not just a stronger middle class but aing frommer america. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: those remarks delivered on december 10th in michigan at daimler detroit diesel plant, just a day before michigan voted to make that state the very birthplace of manufacturing unions a right-to-work state, uma. uma: doug, thank you so much for that update. jon: now breaking news involving one of the

fiercest critics of the united states on the international stage. venezuelan president hugo chavez reportedly taking a turn for the worse after his cancer surgery in cuba. his condition said to be delicate right now. steve harrigan live from miami with details. steve? >> reporter: jon, three weeks ago hugo chavez underwent his fourth operation in cuba for undisclosed form of cancer. according to venezuela ann officials he has respiratory infection. it is not clear how rapid his recovery will be. what is clear he made no public states or appearances in the past three weeks and things are serious enough where his own vice president had to travel from venezuela to cuba after meeting with chavez. after meeting with chavez the leader's health, was quote, a in a delicate situation. madero is hand-picked successor to chavez. interesting things could happen if chavez is not well enough to attend his own inauguration on january

10th. if he dies before the inauguration, venezuela will have to call all new presidential elections within three months. keep in mind it was back in october when chavez was reelected for another term. he told senz senz ann voters he was in fact cancer-free. jon? jon: hmmm. so interesting development there i wonder if he knew something that he didn't want to share with the nation? is there any indication? >> reporter: he certainly managed to run a vigorous campaign desite a year and a half of cancer and operations. they did everything they could to get him out there. the fact you have the president and vice president both in cuba now and chavez has gone unseen for the past three weeks is raising the speculation this could be extremely serious at this point, jon. jon: interesting. steve harrigan there in miami for us. thanks, steve. >> there are new developments in the disturbing death of a man in a subway station. police are saying he was pushed in front of a moving train. what a judge is saying the suspect must do.

plus, this could be in your neighborhood. new signs the mexican drug cartels are strengthening their grip. right inside america. we'll take you to the front lines. stay with us. this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn

come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day afr day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] e pill eachmorning. 24 hours. zero heartbur

jon: right now new info on some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. a new york city judge orders a woman accused pushing an i will my grant to his death at subway station. to undergo psychiatrist tests. she told them she hated muslims since the 9/11 attacks and thought the victim was one. plist service for the gunman in the connecticut shooting tragedy. the shooter's father claiming the body. they're still searching for a motive in the killing of 20 little children and six adults in the sandy hook

elementary school. georgia police say two little boys were found in texas in their father's custody. a man watching tv coverage of the case recognized them and called police. uma: we have new information on mexico's violent drug cartels. we've known for years these dangerous criminals have been operating in the u.s. but now police are saying they're extending their reach in america's cities and neighborhoods in very alarming ways. adam housley is joining us live from los angeles with more on this story. adam? >> reporter: yeah, oomph marks you might even say viciously violent ways ways that disturb a lot of local police forces here in the southwest. southern california may not be surprise to you, highest concentration of gang members in the country. a report by the fbi says nearly four in 10 u.s. gang members have some ties to drug trafficking organizations based in mexico. that is far more than any other outside group. also this fbi report says that the number of gang

members operating in the u.s. shot up 40% in the last year. nearly one in three police officers here in the southwest are concerned saying that gang activity and drug trade in their areas has increased over the course of the last two years. people like assistant sheriff gary pentis in ventura, california, where they're battling cartel and gang members. take a listen. >> i think most law enforcement agencies put the gang activity as a huge priority because of violence in our communities. violent crime is a huge priority. we have to keep the dopers on their heels because that is the power, that's the money. it all works together. >> reporter: and they all work together including federal agencies battling some of these same cartels. off the coast of california the cartels are working with gang members to go out further and further. a couple years ago we were talking about boats like these coming ashore in san diego county. now they're coming ashore 300 miles further north, all by san lou obispo. a concern and the coast

guard sees this increase as well. >> where we're at a challenge is they have an unconstrained budget. so they're moving to more sophisticated means of smuggling, particularly proprime vessels we call semimile submersible self-propelled vessels. even with the potential event developing fully submersible submarines if you will, to move their commodity, which is again worth billions of dollars. >> reporter: yeah, by some estimates that commodity is worth as much as $40 billion here in the u.s. and we're seeing ties now between gang members and drug cartels in 230 u.s. cities. back to you in new york. uma: wow, very disturbing news, adam, something we'll have to keep a close watch on. thank you. >> reporter: absolutely. jon: well a big oops on a united airlines flight. a twin-engine turboprop had just taken off when a access cover falls off one of the engines. that caused an emergency landing and the passengers

none too pleased as you can imagine. a funeral today for a hero firefighter who was gunned down on christmas eve while responding to a fire. he died in the line of duty and today friend and family pay tribute. [ all ] 3, 2, 1... [ male announcer ] as the year counts down, your savings can add up with the adt new year's sale. help protect your family with the advanced technology of adt starting at just $99 -- a savings of $300 plus 15% off accessories. but you must call before midnight january 2nd. more than a security system, adt can help let your family in from the cold even when you're away from home. adjust your thermostat remotely to help save energy and money. turn on the lights, even see that everyone is safe and secure. and with adt, you can rely on our fast response monitoring

for 24/7 protection against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide. the adt new year's sale. it could help you save something more important than money. call now to save $300 on adt starting at $99 installed plus 15% off accessories. sale ends midnight january 2nd.

jon: right now they're looking at what caused a plane to make an emergency lanning in missouri this weekend after an engine panel falls off right after takeoff. the united airlines turboprop was bound for denver but minutes after lifting off passengers sensed something was wrong when they looked out the window. this is what they saw. a huge panel covering part of the engine was simply gone. well the plane couldn't

land. had too much fuel on board to land right away. so it had to circle in the air for about 30 minutes before touching back down. in its departure city of kansas city, missouri. everybody was a little shaken but okay. uma: there's new information the shooting that stunned the country on christmas eve. two volunteer firefighters were killed in an ambush and two others were uninjured when they responded to a house fire. that fire was set by the gunman luring the firefighters into a deadly trap. police arrested. 24-year-old dawn win, accusing buying two guns william spengler used in rampage and for falsely indicating on a for she would be the owner of the weapons. spengler killed himself after the shooting but what responsibility does win face for this crime? let's bring in the legal panel right now. frred tecce, former federal prosecutor. and eric. former criminal defense attorney. >> happen new year.

uma: heap new year to you too. this is very sad and disturbing story we're bringing to you right now. as i understand it, dawn wynn was with the gunman at the time these weapons were purchased. fred, what can you tell us about this? >> i can tell you a bunch of things. everybody knows you don't buy cigarettes for a 12-year-old in the grocery store. you don't buy cases of beer for a bunch of 16-year-olds in their car parked in the parking lot of a liquor store. what possessed this woman to purchase two weapons, assault weapon and shotgun for this guy? the guy was a convicted felon. under the law he is forbidden to possess the law under any circumstances. on federal form in bold letters, are you real buyer or buying this for something else. this is making a false statement. that is a felony. she made a false statement and aided and abet ad convicted felon in possessing a a firearm that is another crime.

uma: eric, they want to send a strong message. >> they should send a strong message. uma: airing rick, go ahead. >> a pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood. that is the point the government wants to do. i agree with everything fred is saying. you don't buy cigarettes for mine morse. -- minors. however the government will have a difficult situation trying to get conviction in this case. normally the fed indict you by information they have done their homework. in this case the allegations, these are allegations. the guns were purchased in 2010. there are no eyewitnesses. time is always a defendant's friend. there are eyewitnesses that weren't interviewed. how are they going to prove in a court of law she was there and that she knew that he was a felon and that she purchased these weapons for him? and that is the problem the prosecution will have with this case. they shouldn't, you should not purchase weapons for a felon but they're going to have a difficult time trying to prove and trying to prosecute this case. in the new york case that is it class e felony. that is the lowest level of felony.

you have concurrent jurisdiction. the government and state will both have difficulties with the prosecution. >> uma, what you're watching is why eric is criminal defense lawyer. he wants you to look at a lot of different things. this is very simple. i prosecuted these cases under 1001. i can't count how many felony and possession cases i prosecuted as prosecutor. his second point is right. you have to show that she knew he was a convicted felon. this guy beat his mother to death with a hammer and went to jail for 20 years. i find it hard to believe they won't be able to establish that. the form is very clear. are you person who will possess this gun. if you're not you have to say no. that is all you need to show under 1001. it is clearly material. on faulgs statement which is class "d" felony she has got a problem. >> fred, if i may. uma: you're saying it will be very difficult to prove yet there are cases where prosecutors have been able to successfully get people, linked to this type of crime and, on these charges.

it was gone forward before. >> it has gone forward you about to arrest is probable cause. to convict is reasonable doubt. i agree with you, fred but the issue is they need to prove the intent. they have to prove that she knew. it is going to be a court of law. prove it. one thing to make the allegations. it is all of full what happened to those firefighters. they have difficult enough job but the felons shouldn't have guns but she had to know, the government has to prove that she knew he was a felon and that has to be proven. i think it is very, very difficult case and a very difficult hurdle. >> i agree with you if they're charging her with aiding and abetting a convicted felon of a firearm. there is 1001. a false statement, materially false statement. if she gets convicted under federal sentencing guidelines you take into account the fact that these firemen were killed. these are serious, serious charges. you're right, probable cause, real low threshold, conviction yaurd.

beyond a reasonable doubt. i don't see them having a problem getting a conviction forrer on false statement count. >> i agree. she has to know it was knew issue it was a false statement. >> prove it. uma: look at her statement in and of itself. are prosecutors going after her for simply the fact that she apparently knew what was going on ahead of time? that she is guns were going to be used by this guy and the false statement component as well? >> uma, the issue is, i'm sorry, fred. i didn't moon to cut you off the issue you can't not purchase weapons for felons. felons should not be in possession of weapons. congress passed a law. states have such laws that they passed. if she helped someone she knew was a known felon purchase firearms, she is guilty under that statute. that is what they're going. the state, new york, class c felony which is lowest level felony, she filed a false application. these are crimes and al gigss

that happened two years ago. fred is a very experienced former federal prosecutor. they know normally before they indictment someone they have their ducks in a row. not so in this case. the feds arrested her afterwards. we have sandy hook. columbine, rejuvenation of argument of second amendment. a pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood. they want to stop felons from having people directly or indirectly help them get weapons. >> that is not where the federal form says. that is not what the federal form says. are you person who will use and possess this firearm. she said yes. that is not true. that is false statement that is different crime. >> fred, she claimed she was the one that used firearms. that they were stolen. uma: guys. this is case we'll watch very closely of course. and certainly, it is something that to note that they do have a suspect in this horrible, horl horrible incident.

we'll watch this closely. >> all ma, fred, happy new year. jon: less than 12 hours till we ring in the new year as times square gets ready for a big bash and a crush of hugh manty. thousands are gathering. better bundle up. 2013 is coming in with an arctic blast. your new year's eve weather forecast next. we're hours away from falling off the fiscal cliff. got your parachute handy? holiday cheer is in short supply on capitol hill as the search goes on for a last minute miracle. >> this will not affect the debt situation. it will be a political victory for the president. and i hope we'll have courage of our convictions when it comes to raise the debt ceiling fight what we believe as republicans. hats off to the president. he won. jon: victory for the president? senator lindsey graham joins us live next to tell us whether a deal might be in sight. gressive, but don't just listen to me.

listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today.

>> the ohio river valley you have a split from rain to freezing rain and/or sleet. it's all snow north of that from kansas city up through st. louis, champagne and fort wayne. two to three inchers. isolated amounts, six inches from the rockies through the ohio river valley. again not a huge storm system. it will be a nuisance if you're headed on the roadway. take real good care. the cold, cold air feels like january, minus 2 tonight, minus 2 in minneapolis for your ball drop. 14 in chicago. 28 in cleveland.

54 in san antonio and 46 for you in los angeles. again the big ball drop what are we looking at in times square as people head out. i don't know if they are able to get out from times square, they go in there and can't go out for hours. they go out and it shouldn't be too bad. anywhere between 33, 34, maybe 36 is a little warm jon scott. i'm going to have to fine tune my forecast. i think around 33 degrees around the freezing mark for the ball drop. jon: i don't think they are going to care. three degrees won't make a difference. >> reporter: that is true. they go in there, they are in there for hours, they can't leave. do they wear diapers? do we know the answer to that question? they go into for hours. are there portopotties? i don't think there are. i have young kids i think of those things. jon: my first lieutenant plans to attend i believe he's brought in one of his army buddies from kansas. i'll get the full report from

him tonight. >> reporter: happy new year. jon: happy new year janice dean. >> reporter: you and uma. uma: happy new year to you too. right now on capitol hill we are hearing there is progress in the talks to avoid the fiscal cliff. we've heard this before and we are hours away from massive tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in at midnight. republican senator lindseys joih all his thoughts on the matter. welcome, senator, great to have you here today. >> glad to be with you. uma: let's talk for a moment. we don't even have a deal yet and you're already conceding this is a victory for the president. why? >> it will be. i mean no republican wants to raise tax rates. in 2010 the president said we needed to extend all the bush tax cuts because the economy was week. in 2012 the last day he's pushing to raise tax rates. the economy is still weak.

it's all politics, he won the election. he said he come pained on raising tax rates on americans who make mourn 250,000. at the end of the day he'll probably get that victory. it will be a hollow victory because raising tax rates is not going to help job creation and it's certainly not going to get us out of debt. here is the question i asked on "fox news sunday," what are you going to do with the machine, mr. president that comes in from raising tax rates? i found out yesterday afternoon much to my disappointment that they had intended to spend $600 billion of new spending, take $600 billion from the rate increases and spend it on the government and not put any money on the deficit. that's why we are still talking among ourselves, because that is unacceptable. uma: you have no hope that the money will be used to bring down the debt? >> every dime you give these people they are going to spend if we don't make them do otherwise. that's why i asked a simple question. you're going to get a rate increase, i hope it's above 250,

i think it will be. if we had the house bill on the floor weeks ago we would have amended it and we would have passed it and this thing would have tim donaghy a longtime ago. behind doors negotiations leads to a lot of intrigue and dysfunction. this place is so dysfunctional. you should bring the house bill to the floor and let every senator have their say about what they would like to see hapb. ther happen. there are 80 votes to avoid the fiscal cliff. here is the number one issue for me, whatever money is raised between now and tomorrow i hope awful it goes on the deficit and none of it goes to grow the government. if any of it goes to grow the government count me out. uma: let me ask you this. can you in good conscious raise the debt ceiling without addressing the tax debt problems, the long-term debt problems. >> two different issues. tax rates go up on everybody on january the 2nd. everybody in the country will get a tax increase. we are going over the fiscal cliff. it will destroy our military. the first things first, let's

avoid going over over the cliff. there is a deal to be had somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 on rates. let's make sure sure we put it and the deficit. you better hope that democrats and republicans say we are not going to borrow any more money. that means adjusting the age or medicare. means testing for medicare and social security and cpi adjustments for the rate of inflation. that's what i want to raise the debt ceiling. in august 2nd of this past year 2011 we borrowed $2.1 trillion the last time we raised the debt ceiling and we've gone through that money in 17 months. we are burning money up here and it has to stop. uma: some folks are saying, why not just go over the cliff and let the country deal with it as the chips fall on that one, because some believe it's the

only way to force president obama and the senate democrats to agree on fundamental tax reform. what do you think about that? >> we will get fundamental tax reform i believe as a part of the debt ceiling debate. going over the cliff means that our economy goes in the tank. we've got a very small recovery going on here. it would destroy the recovery, and jon's son is a first lieutenant, going over the cliff means that we start to dismantle the best and finest military in the history of the world at the time we need it the most. so that is unacceptable, that means i've got to vote for something i don't like, raising rates is something i don't like. i think it's a bad idea. but it's going to happen because barack obama insists that it happen. but let me tell you this. he had the courage of his convictions to raise tax rates, i'm going to have the courage of my convictions not to raise the debt ceiling until we reform our nation and stop becoming greece and finally stop getting out of

debt. i hope republicans will fight as hard on the debt ceiling as barack obama did on tax rate. uma: you call everything going on in washington right now dysfunctional. the american people are kwaeutinwaiting to see what is going to happen here. many people are frustrated and upset that once again we are at the 11th hour trying to get a deal done at a time when there was a lot of time before this to work something out. >> because the senate doesn't function any more. the house has passed three or four bills to avoid sequestration, to save the military from these cuts, to deal with the fiscal cliff. if you don't like the house's product bring it on the floor of the senate and let's change it. let's start being legislators instead of just a place where ideas go and die in the united states senate, it's embarrassing to me being the most deliberative body in the world and not be able to have a debate about how the fiscal cliff drama should end. we should have had the house bill on the floor months ago. harry reid blocks everything coming from the house, this place is completely

dysfunctional and this is why you wait on new year's eve to financed out what is happening, because we don't vote in the senate any more. uma: it's a very troubling and disturbing situation indeed, senator graham. thank you so much for joining us. we are all watching and waiting to see what happens over the next few hours. >> there are a lot of votes in this body to avoid the fiscal cliff if we could just get the body working we would. but i want to end with this note. if there is going to be revenue increases, not one penny should go to growing the government, all the money should go on reducing the deficit because we are going to lose the american dream by being in debt to the point our children cannot have what we've had. uma: senator graham thank you very much for joining us today. appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you. jon: well it seems to be the tail of two murder cases, the army is ready to mount a death penalty case against an army sergeant accused of a massacre in afghanistan. but the prosecution of an army psychiatrist accused of shooting up fort hood is taking years. are the media noticing?

our news watch panel weighs in. plus a holiday tragedy when a tour bus gets into a horrible crash. >> 20 years and this is the first time i ever seen anything like this. it appeared that most of the patients had actually been ejected from the bus as the bus went down the cliff.

uma: we have an update for you.

we are hearing that the president of the united states is planning to address the nation at 1:30 to talk more about the fiscal cliff crisis that looms right now. we are hours away from that deadline at midnight when these tax hikes will go into effect if they don't reach a deal. so we are going to continue to update that story as it becomes available. again the president will be speaking at 1:30. now moving onto a very tragic story at this hour, oregon police are saying nine people are dead and more than 20 others injured after a tour bus careens off a steep embankment on an icy patch of interstate plunging some 100 feet. the stretch of rural highway is so notorious for its hazards oregon transportation officials have warned truckers there of its potentially dangerous conditions in the past. jon: right now two high profile murder cases are raising questions about the even-handedness of military justice and the news coverage it generates. it was march of this year that army staff sergeant robert bales

went on a rampage killing 16 afghan civilians. lesson nine months later he's on track for a military trial and the army has announced it will seek the death penalty. still no trial in a case that seems to dragon forearm me psychiatrist abdel hakim al hasady, the army major accused of killing 13 of his fellow service members at fort hood, texas more than three years ago. why the disparity, and have the media even noticed. let's talk about it with our news watch panel. alan colmes is host of the alan colmes show and author of "thank the liberal force saving america" dan shore is a formal federal proceeds kwaoute prosecutor and joins us today. dan, we know the military justice system works differently and the wheels of justice we are told grinds slowly, but they seem to be grinding incredibly slowly in the case of abdel hakim al hasady while staff sergeant bales is on track to face the death penalty. what is the difference here.

>> it's information to look at at every case as a different case. with the hasan says there has been procedural wrapping lynn. he want towed wear a beard during his trial and the judge held him in contempt for growing a beard which is against military regulations. it went to an appeals court it took six months. we are back to the trial setting again. it is frustrating to the victims and related to the victims who are diseased. these procedural issues don't exist in the afghanistan case so information. jon: here is a point about that and i wanted to bring this to your attention from the "associated press." they said hasan began growing his beard while in custody. it's a requirement of his muslim faith. but facial hair is not allowed under army regulations. the judge cited him six time and had him thrown out of the courtroom before ordering that he be forcibly shaved. that is the act that got the judge tossed off the case. but the beard, the ap goes onto

report could affect how hasan is perceived by military panel lists deciding his fate and that could become the basis of an appeal if found guilty. alan the supposition there is this guy grows a beard knowing that it's going to make him look back in front of a jury of his pierce because you are not allowed to have beards in the million tear wroe and that becomes th military, and that becomes the basis of an appeal. >> i wonder if indeed he grew it after the fact and now claims religious exemption is that fair if he didn't have the religious exepl shan prior to that. >> in terms of an appeal it's important to preserve an argument if you're a defendant. he asked for the beard he won't be able to appeal. the new judge just put on the record that he voluntarily is waiving his right to appeal based on the beard, and more important than how long it takes is that we get the judgment right in the end, and that there is not an appealable issue. so making sure that he on the record said he wants the beard, he's now going to probably be

able too have the beard, then whatever verdict there is at trial should stand up. >> don't we as a nation honor one's religious preferences, even if the burial of osama bin laden it was done in such a way to to honor his muslim faith. jon: this guy was a muslim when he joined the military, he knew there was a been on beards in the military. he thaobg th took the paycheck and oath of office anyway. >> then he decides he wants a beard. he claims that is part of his religious choice. who are we to say you can't do that now because we are not going to honor your choice now. jon: dan, what about what the ap wrote? if he grows a beard he potentially looks bad to the jury of his pierce, because it's going to be other military members on this jury. if they then convict him in part because they don't necessarily like guys with beards because it looks like you're not, you know, living up to military standards, does that become appealable? >> it does not, because to appeal an issue you have to have

a judgment go against you and you have to preserve it for appeal. here he's asking for the beard and the judge put on the record that he is waiving his right to appeal based on the beard. as a prosecutor or judge you have to choose your battles. in this cases specially in hind sight they probably should not have chosen this battle to stop him from growing the beard and focus on the merits of the criminal trial which is very important. >> if he's going to look worse to a jury because of a beard why would he want a beard to look worse to the jury, does that make any sense? jon: if he wants to be a martyr. >> why would you want to put yourself in a situation where you look worse to a jury than you potentially could based on another choice. >> the. jon: the earlier judge lost his position in the case because he ordered that he be forcibly shaved. let's take a look at the bigger picture. why i mean staff sergeant bales criminal rampage this he's accused of participating in happened in afghanistan. difficult to investigate, other side of the world, that kind of thing. he's already on track for a death penalty case, alan.

this other thing is dragging one and one and one despite the fact that it happened right here in america h. >> it's also a death penalty case. jon: potentially. >> i'm against the death penalty record less of the circumstances. this is still on track to be a death penalty case. when it goes to trial the same ultimate penalty could be meameted out to each of these defendants. >> his beard could be white by the time it goes to trial. thank you both. uma: a million tourists expected to fill time square tonight for the ball drop. we are live from the crossroads of the world in just minutes with the very latest on the preparations underway for the big new year's celebration and we are waiting to hear from president obama, he is set to make some remarks on the status of those contentious fiscal cliff negotiations, and when that happens we'll bring it to you live. stay with us. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes?

just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

we are counting down to a

brand-new year from the crossroads of the world here in new york city a couple of blocks away from our new york city studios a live look at time square. more than a million tourists expected tonight for the big ball drop. an event that party hosts have spent a pretty big penny planning. fox business network lauren siminetti is live in time times square to tell us about this. what is the economic impact here. >> a happy early new year to you, jon and believe it or not it's well worth spending $2.5 million to put on this party, that's what the times square entertainment spent. they even spent a million dollars to client up after one ton of confetti flows through the sky. it's worth it. the economic impact of that is just about $25 million. this is one of the biggest new year's eve parties the world has ever seen. it's great to be here. if you're from new york you probably never come down here to watch it live because it's so

you crowded but more than a billion people will watch what happens just a couple blocks behind me. starting actually at 3:00pm, jon. jon: what is going on there right now? >> reporter: all right. so they've closed down all the streets. they are doing this massive security sweep, and then at 3:00 eastern they are going to let some people start piling in. they'll fill out the bullpen. there is no bathrooms, if you have to go to the bathroom good luck. they are just going to crowd you in there, bring your jars and adult diapers and all of that, and then at 6:00pm the ceo of phillips light he's going to slip a switch sending that 12-foot, 12,000-pound waterford crystal ball all the way up and at midnight it will drop as will the one ton of confetti from the sky and we'll northbound 2013. you know what is so great about being in times square which is like you said the cross raofdz the world is that this is where main street meets washington meets wall street. it's such a great way to talk

about it and see people's opinions on everything going on, and everything that we're talking about especially today. jon: fox business network, lauren, thank you. happy new year. uma: do you have plans for the new year? we hope they include fox news' all american new year's eve starting at 11pm eastern tonight megyn kelly and bill hemmer will be bringing you the big event live from times square along with greg gutfield, criminal pwer lee guilfoyle and many others. you can text us your happy new year's messages. type the letter u and text, that is all one word, leave a space then type a brief message and send it to 36288. again, you text space, your message to 36288 and watch for your message tonight with megyn and bill. jon: sounds like fun. are you sick of hearing phrases like kick the can down the road and fiscal cliff. straight ahead the words some people want banished from the english language. new prilosec otc wildberry

is the same frequent heartburn treatment as plosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer one pill each morning. 2hours. zero heartburn. satisfaion guaranteed or your money back. jon: we are 32 minutes away from hearing from the president. there might not be a solution yet in that budget battle, but the fiscal cliff is landing on the 38th annual list of words that some people want to banish from the evenin english language according to nominations submitted to michigan university. uma: that is not the only phrase folks found to be over used. consider this. kick the can down the road among